Jon Fitch Feels the Weight Fall From His Shoulders with UFC 153 Victory and Bonus

Jon Fitch is one of the most successful fighters to ever set foot in the Octagon; yet he is also one of the most criticized for having a lackluster fighting style.

Fighters that are good at planting their opposition on the mat and working a ground and pound attack are often labeled “boring.” And Jon Fitch at times has had that label plastered across his forehead.

Never mind that his overall record stands at 24-4-1, while his in-Octagon dossier reads 14-2-1. Just disregard that Fitch counts among his victories the likes of Thiago Alves, Diego Sanchez, Paulo Thiago, Mike Pierce, and, at UFC 153 on Saturday night, Erick Silva.

“People complain about Jon Fitch laying on people?” questioned UFC president Dana White following UFC 153. “This is mixed martial arts; your job is to keep him from doing it.

“Tonight, Erick Silva was doing that. Fitch was grinding him against the fence the way that he does and Silva got out and countered. It was a back-and-forth fight. Both guys looked awesome. It was a war.”

Fitch said heading into the fight that he wanted to put on a Fight of the Night performance and that’s exactly what he did, literally. Not only did White sing he and Silva’s praises, he awarded them the UFC 153 Fight of the Night, which meant an extra $70,000 bonus for each of them.

“I gotta give credit to my opponent, Erick Silva,” remarked Fitch at the post-fight press conference. “Great fights are made when both guys are coming in to finish and take risks. Tonight, he was the perfect opponent for me to kind of show what I’m really about, kind of restart my career, and give myself a fresh breath, help my family out and make some money.”

What Fitch is referring to, as he explained on MMAWeekly Radio leading up to UFC 153, is that the last couple years of his career have been pretty heavily burdened by injuries and other circumstances that have kept him out of the Octagon quite a bit. Saturday night’s fight was only Fitch’s fifth since 2009.

So just getting back in the Octagon was a financial load off of Fitch’s mind, but to score a Fight of the Night bonus on top of his show and win money certainly puts Fitch back in a much happier place.

“It gives me a lot of comfort, gives me space, not have to worry about money. I can just focus on training and doing what I love.”

It was nice to see a much “improved” Fitch, though the fight could have been stopped in the 3rd, it was nice to see Fitch have an incredible performance. Expect GSP to be similar, if not more willing to “entertain” the uneducated fans who thinks his fights are boring. I believe we will see some if the old GSP along with the new and proved/skilled GSP. Can’t wait for Nov 17th.

http://www.facebook.com/karl.kunej Karl Kunej

I’ve been a long term GSP, and UFC fan.. GSP’s fights are boring.. beat koscheck 5 rd jab.. Jake sheilds i was there live worst fight of the night.. He hasn’t finished a fight since 2006.. Condit vs Diaz = bs dancing.. GSP vs Condit is going to be dancing with the UFC stars.. not looking forward to it at all.. That Fitch fight was awesome though definitely Fight of the Night!!

Kris-tyahn

Well if you think GSPs fights are “boring” you clearly do not understand MMA, with that said, seing that you do not understand it, your comment is understandable. GSP vs Shields … I don’t care if u were there, being there only means you of all people should have know that he ONLY HAD ONE EYE for more than half the fight. You realize there are TWO fighters right? Why doesn’t Shields get more blame considering he had two good eyes, yet he still couldn’t do shit all? The first 3 rounds was all GSP owning Shields, the 4th & 5th rounds were crap, but that’s bc of Shields. I mean, If you’re going to blame GSP bc he had one eye, then what does that say about Shields who couldn’t take advantage of a one eyed GSP?!? As for the Koscheck fight, he owned Koscheck on the feet, and kept the fight on the feet, yet uneducated people complain bc he didn’t finish, so it appears the guy can’t win. He keeps he fight standing its boring bc he ONLY broke the guys face, if he keeps the fight on the ground and puts on a BJJ clinic ala Hardy, it’s boring bc he never finished him. His skill is unmatched by any fighter, no one, not even Silva. Sonnen owned Silva, when was the last time anyone did that to GSP?

Kris-tyahn

FYI: the competition Silva fights is a joke compared to the opponents GSP fights. Silvas last fight proves that, actually all of Silvas LHW fights have been jokes/padded wins for Silvas already padded resume. I guess Bonnar was a legit opponent right?!? Bahahaha, I have a question …. Silva is suppose to be he best right? So why does he fight so many CANS? Can you imagine Mayweather or Pacquiao fighting a guy who was “retired”, who was never a #1 contender EVER, let alone fight for a title, and never fought or trained in 11 months …. Oh and took the fight on short notice? HELL NO, that would be a joke and an insult, yet Dilva has no problem fighting this guy, bc it’s just another padded victory to a very padded resume. Also, do u think its by accident Silva hasn’t yet fought a top 10 LHW? Or that neither one of them were wrestler oriented?!? Lol I think not. Which is why he doesn’t want to fight Weidman …. But that’s bc he only wanted “big fights” – I forgot how big a retired Stephan Bonnar is …… Lmao. Silvas a joke and not even worthy to be considered in the top 3 P4P, not with the majority of his opponents being B level quality. How many of Sklvas opponents have had 5,6,7 yrs undefeated?!? GSP has fought 3 or 4 guys who were undefeated for 4,5,6,7 yrs and then easily beat them. That’s the diff in the quality of opponents GSP fights, compared to Silvas bums …. Leben, Lutter, Cote, Maia, Leites, Okami overrated, griffin, Irvin, Bonnar. Sonnen was suppose to have been on that list until he shocked the world, but I’ll put Sonnen on the same level as Henderson and Franklin.

Rob

Couple things here…
I wish fighters and athletes as a whole would stop talking so much about money.
Secondly, how the hell is he hurting after having so many fights – wins in the UFC and endorsements?
Curious as to how well the UFC really does take care of their veteran fighters…
Thoughts?

Noah

They don’t make a ton of money. Fitch is making what, like 35/35? He has to pay his corner 20-25%, pay for training partners, flights, ect. If he is fighting less than 1 time a year, you do the math. CA is an extremely expensive place to live. Wife and kids add on. He isn’t bankrupt, but isn’t driving a Benz I bet.